Uncontrolled abstraction of  groundwater for irrigation 
has resulted in many problems in north Gujarat including 
mining of  deep alluvial aquifers and secular decline in 
water levels; deterioration of  groundwater quality 
manifested by high levels of  salinity and fluorides in 
groundwater pumped from deep aquifers, making water 
non-potable, and sometime unusable for irrigation. 
Depletion problems in north Gujarat are very serious, 
owing to the extent of  overdraft and mining, rate of  
depletion, the degree of  dependence on groundwater for 
economic activities, and have far reaching consequences 
on the region's socio ecology. Legislative and regulatory 
measures to check overdraft that are socially viable and 
politically acceptable, have either not been worked out or 
have not been effectively enforced. The government 
interventions to protect the region from economic distress 
and collapse of  the social fabric have, by and large, failed 
to make any positive impact. There are projects in pipeline 
to take up large-scale promotion of  pressurized irrigation 
technologies. However, this is not based on sound 
understanding of  the scope and limitations of  these 
technologies. In recognition of the groundwater depletion 
problems and their adverse socioeconomic and ecological 
impacts, IWMI launched an action research project in 30 
villages of  Banaskantha district on community-based local 
groundwater management.

Hydrological Opportunities for Augmenting 
Groundwater 

While on the one hand, the high inter-annual variability in 
the rainfall and runoff  reduces the reliability of  local water 
harvesting systems, on the other, it increases the 
hydrological opportunities available for these systems. The 
excessively high runoff  generated in some of  the years 
increases the potential of  local water harvesting systems in 

terms of  the amount of  runoff  available for harnessing. 
Thus the quantum of  water, which is generated from 100 

thha catchment, with 1/6  probability is sufficient to irrigate 
nearly 46 ha in one season. Large potential for water 
harvesting exists in the downstream of  Dantiwada and 
Sipu reservoirs in Banaskantha district, as they are free 
catchments.  In areas such as Danta in the eastern hilly 
tracts of  Banaskantha, the minimum runoff  that will be 
generated once in 6 years from a one-sq. km catchment 
will be as high as 0.559 MCM, which if  captured 
underground can irrigate an additional area of  nearly 110 
hectares.

The large unsaturated zones in the depleted alluvial 
aquifers provide excellent opportunities for recharging. 
This is complemented by the sandy soils, and the presence 
of  local ponds that act as the sink for the local sheet 
runoff. But, at present only de-silting is practiced. This is 
not sufficient for getting optimum recharge of  the stored 
water. During high rainfall years, the runoff generated even 
from a small catchment of  100 ha will be extremely high. 
This runoff  is generated in a small amount of  time given 
the fact high rainfall events that generate runoff  are very 
few. The storage capacity of  village ponds, which are 
generally in the size of  0.01 to 0.05 MCM (1 to 5 ha), will 
be too insufficient to capture all the runoff. The rate of  
percolation of  water through the soil zone will be low. 
Also, owing to the large depth to groundwater table, a 
good fraction of  the water while percolating down through 
the dry soil zone (vadose zone) will get absorbed by the 
soil particles are hygroscopic water. Therefore, recharge 
tube wells are required to increase the rate of  intake of  
water. They can link the water in the pond to the aquifers 
that are tapped.

Physical Opportunities for “Wet Water” Saving

In villages where groundwater occurs under hard rock 
conditions, open wells and dug-cum- bore wells are used 
for irrigation. These wells have poor yield characteristics 
and run for 2-3 hours a day, much less than the hours of  
power supply. These are the most ideal situations for 
adopting water-saving technologies. The farmers can go 
for overhead sprinklers for crops such as wheat, bajra, 
jowar, mustard and elephant grass which are common. 
Micro sprinklers and mini sprinklers would be much 
suitable for alfalfa, which almost every farmer is growing. 
Drip systems will be feasible for crops such as castor, 
fennel, cotton, chilly and brinjal. 

For large farmers having their own independent wells, but 
not sufficient water, conventional pressurized irrigation 

VI. MICRO-MANAGEMENT OF GROUNDWATER: IWMI'S EXPERIMENT IN NORTH 
GUJARAT

M. Dinesh Kumar  IWMI-India [ ] d.kumar@cgiar.org

 Figure 11: Level of  Groundwater Development in Gujarat

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systems would prove to be technical feasible as well as 
economically viable.  The Family Drip system being 
promoted by Netafim was found efficacious for irrigating 
alfalfa, with substantial water saving and yield gains. Sub-
surface irrigation systems, FDS, micro-tube drip systems 
and “Easy Drips” do not require pressure head to run and 
therefore are most suitable for members of  tube well 
partnerships and for water buyers. If  the farmers shift to 
water saving technologies, the actual scope for water 
saving is high in these areas owing to: prevention of 
evaporation from the land surface; and prevention of deep 
percolation loss, which does not return to the pumped 
aquifer. Currently, farmers are tapping water from the deep 
confined aquifers, which are separated from the shallow 
aquifer, which is dry due to over-exploitation, by 
impervious layers. The seeping water takes long time 
travelling though the unsaturated zone; and may not reach 
the pumped aquifer.

What would work in Banaskantha?

Pressurized irrigation systems would eventually find 
greater acceptance among resource rich, large farmers who 
have independent irrigation sources, but not able to cover 
their entire command with traditional irrigation practices. 
Also, farmers who have poorly yielding wells, and are not 
able to utilise power supply fully, find great economic 
sense to go for pressurized irrigation systems. It will find 
least acceptance among farmers whose irrigation source 
have abundant supply potential, but are constrained by 
power supply shortages. Micro tube drip irrigation systems 

will make great sense for those who do not have their 
independent sources of  water supply and for water buyers. 
The “Easy Drip” was tested to be efficacious for several of  
the horticultural crops. The FDS would find takers among 
water buyers and well owners for irrigating alfalfa. 

The opportunities available for generating higher returns 
out of  water efficient irrigation technologies would greatly 
depend on the agronomical practices. In the case of  
pressurised irrigation technologies, since the energy 
overheads are more for small plots, the small and marginal 
farmers will have to make greater investments to do 
agronomical practices such as mulching, use of  organic 
fertilizers including farm yard manure, proper spacing of  
plants, which in turn can help improve the water and land 
use productivity.  

What does IWMI do in Banaskantha?

IWMI is currently promoting: [1] a wide variety of  water 
saving technologies  micro tube drip irrigation systems for 
horticultural crops, easy drips for row crops such as castor, 
cotton and fennel, and mini sprinklers and family drip 
irrigation systems for alfalfa; [2] scientific composting and 
organic farming practices; sub-surface irrig ation systems 
for water intensive field crops, row crops and horticultural 
crops; and [3] very low water intensive cash crops such as 
jojoba, date palm and horticultural crops, which can go 
along with drip irrigation. The strategy is to focus on 
water productivity and economic gains rather than water 
saving. 

There are few places in the world where water has become 
'everybody's business' quite like it has in Gujarat, 
particularly, Saurashtra and Kutch. The decentralized 
movement for water harvesting and groundwater recharge 
that has emerged as a groundswell in this region represents 
an effort whose scale matches the magnitude of  the water 
scarcity and drought-proneness that increasingly haunt 
Western India. Many questions arise about the impact of 
this movement of  which four seem particularly relevant: 
First, in principle at least, can decentralized water 
harvesting and groundwater recharge result in net 
improvement in basin or region level welfare? If not, is 
there emerging evidence of  the movement waning, and 
people getting disillusioned, now that it has operated in a 
hyper-active mode for over a dozen years? Has the 
decentralized water harvesting and recharge movement 
stayed just thatwater harvesting and recharge movementor 
has it marked the first step to decentralized water resource 
management by communities? And, for populous, water-
scarce countries like India, does Saurashtra represent a 

VII. CAN MASS MOVEMENT FOR DECENTRALIZED WATER HARVESTING AND RECHARGE 
HELP COPE WITH GROUNDWATER DEPLETION? LESSONS FROM WESTERN INDIA

Shamjibhai Antala  Saurastra Lok Manch
Tushaar Shah  IWMI-India [ ] t.shah@cgiar.org

quirky exception or the harbinger of  a broader, 
mainstream trend? If  so, what might be its wider 
implications? 

The evidence reviewed offers some tentative answers: [a] 
Decentralized groundwater recharge can at least ensure 
security of  the main kharif  crop for most farmers in 
Saurashtra and Kutch; and if  a large number of  people are 
adversely hit by this activityincluding towns peoplethere 
seems no significant sign yet of  any big time opposition to 
water harvesting; [b] there seems little evidence of  the 
waning of  people's faith in the power of  decentralized 
water harvesting to improve their livelihoods; [c] there are 
some early signs of  an emerging consciousness of  the 
need for water demand management, especially in 
agriculture; but this is essentially in response the need to 
save crops from declining well yield. There is no clear 
answer to the last question since Saurashtra and Kutch are 
different from other parts of  Gujarat and Western India in 
several aspects of  their socio-ecology. 

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